iPhone 5 and iPad mini Engineering Mock-ups Photographed

Engineering samples of the upcoming iPad mini and iPhone 5 have been outed online in photo form. They show that the iPad mini will be the thinnest Apple tablet yet, and reaffirm the widescreen bod of the iPhone 5.

Models like these are used when the exact size of a device needs to be known, before the device itself is available - when producing iPad cases, for example. Website GottaBeMobile has posted shots of the Apple samples, which reportedly come from a "trusted source inside the Apple supply chain" - although that could mean the guy who sweeps the floor at a factory in China.

The sample of the iPhone 5 is familiar, with the Home button at the bottom, and similar placement of the front call speaker. Its rear is a little different, though, trading the seamless glass back for one with two lines fencing-off the phone's edges - the iPhone is expected to be backed with metal rather than glass this time.

The model shows that the iPhone 5 is a little longer than the current iPhone 4S - 120mm rather than 115.2 - allowing for the taller screen. Width is similar to the current iPhone model, though.

The iPad mini samples don't disprove any recent believable rumours, either. It's predictably a lot smaller than the full-size iPad, at 213mm tall and 186mm wide. It is impressively thin, though. It's 9.4mm thick - a similar thickness to the iPhone 4S. This size is consistent with reports that the tablet will have a 7.85in screen.

On the bottom of the sample, coloured in TrustedReviews orange, no less, you can see the smaller docking port - and the dual speakers. The current iPad has just the one speaker.

Apple has not made any official announcements about either device, but they're expected to launch by the end of October.